Apparatus for hydrogenating oils



Sept. 14 1926.

E. I... ANDERSON APPARATUS FOR HYDROGENATING OILS 4 Filed March .26J1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l sept. 14 ,1926.

E. L. ANDERSON APPARATUS FOR HYDROGENATING OILS Filed March 26, 1923 2sheets-sheet 2 Patented Sept. 14, 1926.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE# EDWARD L. AiDERsoN," or LONG REACH,cALIEoRNIA, .AssierlxToR- E oNE-EoURTHTo EDWARD RfTHERIEAU, oE LONGBEACH, CALIFORNIA.

ArrARATUs FOR HXDRGENATING oI'Ls.

'Application inea March 26, 1923. serial No. 627,637.

This invention relates to apparatus for hydrogenating oils, such ascrude hydrocarbons or relatively* heavy hydrocarbon products, toincrease their capacity or to produce from them lighter hydrocarbons ofVlower boiling points. The invention has for its general object theprovision of processV and apparatus to get, at minimum cost, a maximumproductlon'of Vlightgravity and low boiling point hydrocarbons.

According to this 4invention. the desired lend'is reached byhydrogenating the heavier and high boiling point hydrocarbons to producelighter products; and the invention is applicable to the productionofmotor fuel, kerosene, distillates, and lubricating stock,

all without the necessity of further refiningI before being marketable.`The invention in its broader aspects issomewhat s1m1lar to my inventionentitled Process -and appa?v ratus forv obtaining gasolinel fromfnaturalgas for which I have filed application Serial No. 597,851, on Octoberth, 192,2.l Insaid application, although I have described the inventionas directedV most particularly to the recoveryand manufacture ofgasoline from natural gas; yet that invention includes thegeneralprocess of combining natural gas with a heavierhydrocarbomthereby to produce a light hydrocarbon.. In that invention,as also in the present one, the combination is effected by heat andcatalytic action.

, -But the present invention, although it at least in part functions tocombine natural gas with a heavy hydrocarbon, is more particularlydirected to production of the light hydrocarbons from the heavierhydrocar- Y vbons on which the process operates'.

Bearing in mind-these preliminary statements, the present invention willnow be best understood from adetailed description of a preferred form ofapparatus and preferred" process procedures illustrative of theinvention, reference for this purpose being had to vthe accompanyingdrawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is a diagram :illustrating a complete.

-apparatus for carrying on the rocess';

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical' section of the heatingandfcatalyzing pier-- tion of' the apparatus, together lwith gramillustrating the controls;

Fig. 3 is. an enlarged detail section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is afragmentary' section on line 4-4 of Fig.43;V and Avap'r take-olf Fig. 5is an enlarged detail section on line 5 5 @f Fig. 2. A '1 w f In thedrawings I show at-llO and 11 an o1l tank Aand a water tank into whichsuit` able air pressure may be introduced through pipes l2 and 13 to,maintain .a steady lfeed pressure above the liquids inthe tanks.- Theliquids feed out from the tanksthr'ough pipes 14 and 15 controlled .by'valveslf and 17 so that the amount and proportion of the two liquidsthat flow into the common feed pipe 18 may be controlled. This feed pipe18 leads into chamber 19 and in this chamber the mixed liquids,illustrated at L in be in disk form and composed of spirally' arrangedcoils 27 of'bare resistance wire held between arms 27a that, with hubs27h, form the frame of the elements. AThese frames maybe made ofinsulating mate-rial. One end of each spiral coil may be connected bywire 28 to lead wire 29 `in the shaft 25, and the other end connected by"wire 30 to shaft 25 and thus through that 'shaft and the shell .0fchamber 19 to lea'dwire 41. vThe resistance'coils arepreferablycomposedof the nickel chromium alloy known `asnichrome,

.which material has' catalytic properties. In

this apparatus, asin the apparatus of my' co'- pendinglapplicat-ion, Icombine; in a single element both the heating a'nd"catalyticl functions,'with the advantage of supplying'the heat close to the catalyticelement.

At the endof shaft 25' a pulley 3 1 is provlde'd', typical of meansofrotating the shaft, and thezelements26. .These are ordinarily rotated:at comparatively' slow speed, 4say about 6() revolutions per minute.

Leading-upwardly from the'fupperpart of :chamber 19 there isalstandpipei surrounded by heat insulation 36 and containing an-`otherheating and catalyticcoil 37 of bare wire arranged as shown inFigs. 2 and 5. At the upper end of standpipe 3 5 there is a pipe 38 thatleads to condenser p 39, and 'from theV condenser the condensate .goesthrough pipe 33 to tank 34 where the ilo 4 going to elements 26.

fixed gases may be separated. Although I show here only a singlecondenser it'will be readily understood that I may utilize. any

Pyrometers P may be located at dierent places in chamber 19 andstandpipe 35 to indicate the temperature of the liquids and vapors, andthese pyrometers may be connected by wires 44 to an indicator 45.

In the operation of the apparatus oil and water are fed into chamber 19continuously in such quantity as to keep a proper body of mixed liquidin' the chamber; and the rotation of elements 26 serves to mix, andpreferably to emulsify the liquids, so as to get them into intimateadmixture. Of course, the same result pmayrlbe had by feeding oil andwater emulsion into the chamber, adding either oil-or Water to make theproper proportion between the two liquids.

The heating elements 26 are, for the treatment of the average run ofcru'de oil or its heavier derivatives, maintained at a temperature ofsay from 600 to 800 F. and in any case high enough to cause theevaporation of the water and practically all of the oil. Whateverresidue is left may be withdrawn from time to time through the pluggedopening at 50. Under the influence of heat the hydrocarbons are not onlyvaporized but ma .be also to a certain extent cracked;

vwhile the Water is vaporized, and under the action' of heat andcatalysis, is dissociated into its elements hydrogen and oxygen. Theseelements, un'der the iniuence of heat and catalysis react to combinewith the hydrocarbon, to a. certain extent at least, in chamber 19.Consequently, there passes upwardly through standpipe 35 a mixture of`fixed gases and vapors from the hydrocarbons and also the gasesresulting from the water vapor, together with vapors that are theproducts' of the combinations that'take place in chamber 19. Instandpipe 35- the temperature of the coils is maintained ty ically atfrom about 400 F. to about 600 Vand under 'the influence of heat andcatalysis the remaining unsaturated hydrocarbons are supplied with'hydrogen that comes from the water, an'd thus vapors of lighterhydrocarbons fare evolved. To Va certain extent this addition ofhydrogen takes place with reference `to all ofthe unsaturatedhydrocarbon light hydrocarbons that may vapors that pass throughstandpipe 35; with the result that the vapors emerging through pipe 38are all, or at least most of them, carrying more hydrogen than they didoriginally, even though some of them may then carry less hydrogen thanothers. rIhe final product, if condensed at one step, will have in it amixture of hydrocarbons of different specific gravities; but not onlydoes this final product have a larger percentage of light hydrocarbons(motor fuel, etc.) than it did originally, but also the average spe--cific gravity of the final product is lower than the average gravity ofthe original substance.

In addition to nascent hydrogen being produced by the operation of heatand catalysis, the Water is also to a certain extent decomposed by theelectric current that iows through it between different parts of thecoils and between the coils an'd the Walls of the device, which aregrounded as described.

' Free carbon that may be formed in the various reactions is taken up bythe oxygen to form carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, which pass olfwith the other fixed gases resulting from the process. Natural gas mayalso be passed into the vaporizing chamber 19 Where it mixes with thehydrocarbon and water vapors, this gas also supplying hydrogenfor these.reactions and supplying also be combined with the heavier hydrocarbonsof the vapors. Also, if gas is introduced, this process 'recovers thelight liquid hydrocarbons that are carried in the gas, in the samegeneral manner as they are recovered in the invention describedin myco-pending application. The apparatus here described may be operatedeither with liquid hydrocarbons Iture in chamber 19 of about 800 F.,andin standpipe 35 of about 600 F., I obtain a final product of anaveragegravity about 26 B. containing approximately 18 percent ofgasoline,'22 percent of kerosene, '20 percent of stove distillate, and35 percent of lubricating stock; the remainder being heavy residue andfixed as.

'Having described a preerred form of my invention, I claim-:- V 1..Apparatus of the character herein described, comprising a chamber'adapted to contain a. partial charge of liquid hydrocarbons and water,a rotatable shaft extending through the chamber, a plurality of disklike lao A partially in the liquid charge and elements mounted on theshaft and standing partially in the liquid charge and partially in thespace in the chamber above the liquid level, each of said elementsincluding a heat and catalytic element.

2. Apparatus of the character herein described, comprising a chamberadapted to contain a partial charge of liquid hydrocarbons and water, arotatable shaft extending through the chamber, a plurality of disk likeelements mounted on the shaft and standing artially in the space in thechamber above the liquid level, each of said elements including a heatand catalytic element; a vapor standpipe extending from the chamber, anda heat and catalytic element in said vapor stan'dpipe.

3. Apparatus of the character herein described, comprising a chamberadapted to contain a bons and water, a rotatable shaft extending throughthe chamber, a plurality of disk like elements mounted on the shaft andstanding partially in the liquid charge and partially in the space inthe chamber above the liquid level, each of said elements including aheat and catalytic element; a vapor standpipe extending from thechamber, and a heat and catalytic element in said vapor standpipe; meansto feed liquid hydrocarbons and Water into the chamber, and a vaportake-off pipe leading from the upper end of the stand pipe to acondenser.

'In witness that I claim the' foregoing I have hereunto subscribed myname this 16th day of January, 1923.

EDWARD 1:..A ANDERSON. y

partial charge of liquid hydrocar- 20

